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Texas Mom Allegedly Confesses To Five-Year-Old Daughter's Murder, Called Her 'Evil'
Melissa White Towne is being held on a $15 million bond after allegedly confessing to murdering her "evil" five-year-old daughter, who she described as a burden.
A Texas woman who allegedly confessed to killing her five-year-old daughter has been charged with capital murder and is being held on a $15 million bond.
Police said that on Sunday, Melissa White Towne, 37, drove to a Houston, Texas hospital emergency room with her daughter, Nichole, wrapped in plastic and mesh bags on the floor of her Jeep Cherokee.
On Monday, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez added in a Twitter statement that the girl was unresponsive and had a laceration and possible ligature marks on her neck. She was pronounced dead at the hospital on Sunday.
More details of the gruesome murder emerged Tuesday during a hearing.
In court, authorities said that Towne allegedly confessed to cutting the girl’s throat before strangling her for at least 30 minutes, the station reported. Authorities said the little girl screamed “I’ve been good,” as her mother strangled her with a trash bag, according to a probable cause affidavit.
“She said she wanted to dispose of the complainant, so she decided to take her to a hospital. The defendant stated she wanted to end the complainant’s life because she was an evil child and did not want to deal with her anymore,” prosecutors read in court, according to ABC affiliate KTRK.
Towne allegedly took the girl to a park outside of Tomball on Sunday and made her get on her knees before she cut her throat with a knife, the Associated Press reported.
Towne’s court-appointed attorney, James Stafford, told reporters outside the courthouse that his client was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia and that she had been institutionalized about nine times, AP reported.
“There’s no doubt there’s some dark demons haunting her,” Stafford said.
A spokesperson with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services told KTRK in a statement that Towne does have a history with CPS.
"Child Protective Services is investigating this tragic death alongside law enforcement. The child's mother, Melissa Towne, does have prior history with CPS, but specific details of CPS investigations are confidential according to law. Ms. Towne has three additional children ranging in age from 2 years old to 18 years old, who are safe and have been living with other family members."
KTRK reported that Towne did not have custody of her daughter or her other children, and family members are unsure how she got custody of the child on Sunday.
The child's aunt mourned the loss of the five-year-old, who she described as sweet and innocent.
"She didn't deserve, she had not even had a chance to live," Amber Bradshaw, Nichole's aunt, told KTRK. "She never hurt anybody. She would step around an ant. She loved animals."
